


Hollaback Girl

by bs13



Category: Selfie (TV)
Genre: F/M, Heliza, Henry's pretty much an idiot, Henry-centric, kinda angsty?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-11 23:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3336398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bs13/pseuds/bs13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry, waking up after that terribly confusing karaoke night, is forced to come to terms with what exactly happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hollaback Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pleasesayitsnotso](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasesayitsnotso/gifts).



> Yeah um I'm so sorry pleasesayitsnotso, because sadly, this is your gift. I'm so sorry you got me as your author; I didn't do your prompt justice.
> 
> Prompt: Henry waking up the night after kareoke night.

What she did yesterday was insane.

Crazy beyond all belief.

And so...so awe-inspiring...

Henry slams his palm down on the kitchen counter to avoid doing something foolish, like cursing—Heaven forbid crude words leave his mouth over something like this—but he can't help feeling as if he wants to. Dammit, he _really_ wants to. He just _had_ to go and be so stupid yesterday, and wake up today as confused as he is.

Because Eliza... _loves_ him.

No. No, there's no way that's true. Henry rapidly shakes his head, blinking a few times for good measure, as if both actions will erase the thought from his head. Eliza does _not_ love him. She had just had too much to drink, and was clearly inebriated; there is no way she meant what she said. And even if she does—not that Henry hopes so or anything—Henry hasn't the slightest clue of what to think of it.

He really can't explain it to himself. Of course, he tried to brush off Eliza's confession as nothing, but that does not explain what happened with Julia. Why did he not chase after Julia? Surely he can't want...Eliza too? Well, even if she truly loves him, which she doubts. He's old, he's boring, and there's just no reason why someone as vibrant and in love with life as her would want that.

In fact, Henry has half a mind to call back Julia and beg her to change her mind. Julia makes much more sense than Eliza does; she's stable and makes wonderful small talk, and besides, she's professional and closer to Henry's age. Julia is the type of woman Henry has always imagined to end up with, and yet, it is Eliza who Henry cannot seem to function without.

Eliza Dooley is everything Henry ought to hate. She is young (alright, so Henry envies her more for that), social-media obsessed, and doesn't have the usual professional look on life as the other workers in the office do. She's unreliable, she has terrible social skills, and she can't seem to understand the importance of maintaining her dignity. In fact, Henry remembers thinking how unimportant to the office Eliza used to be when he first met her.

But that's all changed, whether he likes it or not. Her youth makes her glow with life, her obsession with social media is quite possibly _endearing_ by now, and her unprofession look on life inspires some of her best work. She is still unreliable, but Henry has become used to that, and used to her terrible social skills; he does try to help her, after all. And even if she can't maintain her dignity as well as Henry would appreciate, well, that is just something that makes Eliza Dooley herself.

She has changed drastically in his eyes. She's gone from the foolish girl who approached him for his help. She's gone from being a lost cause. She is now his friend. His friend who has steadily grown into a better person. And, now, his friend who has just confessed her love.

Henry sighs, sitting down on his couch and turning on the news in an attempt to get the subject off of his mind. Last night had been such a blur, and not because he reached any level of inebriation, but because everything had gone by so fast. Eliza's confession, the way they'd argued over his relationship with Julia, his breakup with Julia...

He hates to admit it, but Henry is feeling terrible over the whole ordeal. He wishes he hadn't disregarded Eliza's feelings like that. He wished he had been honest, and confessed that, yes, he feels something too. But he wants to be the better man. Eliza doesn't need someone like him; he doesn't need someone like Eliza.

But at the same time, he doesn't want the warm, safe, non-threatening "Uptown Girl." He has grown too fond of the complicated, beautiful, dangerous "Hollaback Girl." No, _addicted_. He is addicted to her complicated way of thinking, her complicated way of living, because he is so involved in both. He is addicted to her beauty; he cannot remember the last time he got so awestruck by anyone's face. He has grown past being accustomed to seeing Eliza's face; he craves seeing it now.  
And she _is_ dangerous. Everything about her is dangerous. Her fiery red hair is too bright, her clothes too tight and too short, her work ethic leaves plenty of room to be desired, and she is so _ignorant_. So sinfully ignorant of what goes around her, and so ignorant of the effect she causes.

But does Henry believe she just called it quits with Freddy because they were getting too serious? No, he doesn't. He thinks Eliza has grown past the stage of getting into a relationship for just sex. He's seen her improve so much; hadn't she tried to get serious with Freddy in the first place? Sure, he's a bit muddy on the details, but he still stands by that idea. He still accused her of it, sure, but because _he_ , Henry, was scared.

In fact, he's terrified.

Even when Eliza saw him at the bar, and he had a chance to confess his feelings (well, blink when she told him to), he didn't. Henry feels more and more like a coward when he thinks about it. He shouldn't have told her he was going to see Julia when he didn't; it was a petty move on his part, to use that as an excuse to leave before he did something foolish like admit his feelings.

Henry turns off the TV. It's done nothing to take his mind of the subject. Instead, he goes to his computer, fully intending to get some work done. But while that's always been the best way to forget anything, Henry can't muddle through the files he's looking over. Instead, he finds himself going to Youtube and looking up a song before he's even realized what he's doing.  
Gwen Stefani's voice begins to blare through the speakers on his computer.

Henry yelps, quickly muting the sound. He never can really figure out how to fix his blasted sound. Well, that's for the best, anyway; now he decides to just not hear the song. He really shouldn't be hearing "Hollaback Girl" as if the song is going to spell out any answers for him (it does spell out the word "banana", but that doesn't matter). And without figuring out a way to fix the sound, the song might be too powerful for him right now.

So he decides to give up on "Hollaback Girl."

At least, for now.


End file.
